water pump

Freestanding cast-iron water pump, erected c. 1885. Comprising banded shaft with fluting to spout and with curved pumping arm. Cap now missing. Set on concrete base in rectangular enclosure with rendered boundary walls, open to road-frontage to the east. Located to the south end of the village of Moyne, adjacent to rural crossroad junction.

This attractive cast-iron water pump is located south of Moyne village at a busy junction and would have once acted as a communal water source. The banding and fluting are well executed and along with the elegantly curved handle, add aesthetic interest to this utilitarian object. It represents an interesting social reminder of rural Ireland before the development of the mains water supply in the twentieth century, and it adds visual interest to its roadscape location.